Pakistan’s global competitive ranking rises to 115th: Global Competitiveness Report

Islamabad: A Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2017-18 released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) has seen Pakistan’s ranking rise by seven places to 115^th, reported a local newspaper.

It is the second year in succession, that Pakistan’s competitiveness has seen an improvement, which specify an improvement in macroeconomic indicators in last financial year.

Aside Pakistan, Bangladesh has also witnessed its ranking by seven places to 99^th, placing it among the world top 100 economies in terms of competitiveness in all sectors. India fell to 40^th, down by one and Sri Lanka fell to 85^th, registering a downfall of 14 ranks which was attributed to inefficient government bureaucracy and corruption which hampered progress.

GCR report for 2017-18 highlighted that among 114 global competitiveness indicators, Pakistan witnessed an improvement in 82 key indices, whereas on 20 indices it fell from its last position. And on the remaining 12 indices, the position remained the same.

Regarding Pakistan, GCR 2017-18 highlighted corruption as being an impediment for conducting business in Pakistan, government instability and tax rates. The assessment was similar to last year’s report and no improvement was seen in this regard.

On the macroeconomic stability pillar, Pakistan’s ranking improved by 10 to touch 106^th. Also, the country’s infrastructure rankling improved from 116^th to 110^th.

Institution pillar ranking also saw Pakistan improving from 111^th last year to 90^th in 2017-18, according to GCR.

The country’s ranking lost ground by one notch in health and primary education to 129^th from 128^th last year. Higher education and training ranking improved from 123^rd from last year to 120^th this year, Labour Market efficiency 128^th, Technological Readiness 111th, Financial Market Sophistication 96 and Good Markets efficiency to 107^th.

Pakistan’s Business Sophistication ranking saw an improvement from 95^th last year to 81^st in 2017. Market Size Pillar ranking stood at 28^th for Pakistan. Innovation pillar ranking registered an impressive gain of 15 points to see the country being ranked at 60^th on the GCR.

For the ninth year running, Switzerland topped the rankings for being the most competitive global economy, US stood at second and Singapore bagged the third position.